Jonathan Thomas (00:13)
Welcome to the Anglotopia podcast. Today, we're gonna do a special podcast with just me, because I'm gonna talk about British TV. And the reason I'm talking about British TV is because today, we launched our brand new book that has been years in the making called Great British Telly, the Anglophiles Guidebook to the Best of British TV. Now, this book has been years in the making.

And we're gonna go, we're gonna do a deep dive into the book. ⁓ British TV is probably how most of us Anglophiles first connected with Britain, either that or through children's literature or through reading books in school. But for many people, and me especially, it was British TV. was watching British TV late at night on PBS as a kid growing up because there was nothing else on.

and that's what they show late at night on PBS, British TV, from Monty Python to Doctor Who to costume dramas, you name it. I've been obsessed with British TV since then and it was my gateway drug into becoming an Anglophile. And we Anglophiles connect with Britain most through its TV because British TV is everywhere. And I know that a lot of people are inspired to travel to Britain through its television. And you know,

for the longest time, there hasn't been really a great guide to the best of British TV. And in my career running Anglotopia, I have watched thousands of hours of British TV, much to Mrs. Anglotopia's probable annoyance. ⁓ I've watched pretty much every classic British TV show. I've watched most of the new TV shows that interest my interest areas. And so I've got like a

going catalog in my head of British TV. So I like to think that I'm an expert on British TV after all these years. And Anglotopia itself, we've covered British TV from day one. In fact, TV was probably the second or third blog post that we published on Anglotopia back in 2007 when we started the website. I think it was about Doctor Who or was probably about Downton Abbey. I don't know. I have to go in the archive and look, but it was...

TV was ⁓ very important to the development of Anglotopia because TV is very popular and TV drove Anglotopia's growth through the years ⁓ as we covered British TV. So British TV is a big deal and I could do a dedicated podcast series on British TV so it would be difficult to kind of compress it all into one podcast.

if you love British TV, this is a discussion you're going to probably going to enjoy.

So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna kinda guide you through what's in the book in the hopes that you'll maybe wanna buy it and how it's laid out. ⁓ So this is the paperback edition. ⁓ It is 400 pages. It a lot of content. We've also released, we're releasing a limited edition hardcover. ⁓ When we released Great London Buildings earlier in the summer, we were really surprised.

how popular the special hardcover edition was despite the price. So we decided to try and do that for all future book releases. So there is a special hardcover edition of this. We've also released it on ebook and we've also released it on audible. you can, however you want to read, listen or view your books, you can enjoy it. ⁓ But most people will interact with it through the paperback, which is available today.

from the Anglotopia store and from Amazon and anywhere you can buy books. ⁓ So the layout of the book is, ⁓ it's really, it's kind of different than our other great British book series that we've put out in recent years. ⁓ The first section of the book after the introduction is a deep dive into the history of television in United Kingdom.

⁓ I'm quite proud of this one. We actually published this a few months ago exclusively for members of the Friends of Anglotopia Club. They kind of got an advanced preview of what we were working on. ⁓ you know, most people don't know that TV was actually a British invention. And so we actually go deep into the deep history of TV and then how TV developed after the invention of TV by a Scotsman named John Logie Baird.

into the founding of BBC, into the founding of the independent television, ⁓ how radio turned into TV, how World War II affected TV, how modern TV developed soap operas and comedy and history and culture. my, it is the first like 50 pages of this book is dedicated to the history of British TV. if that doesn't interest you, you can always skip that section. But ⁓ it's a really, really interesting read and it gives you a

an overview of the landscape of British TV that will prepare you for the second section of the book, is the ⁓ is dedicated to our opinionated list of the top British, top 50 British TV shows of all time. So this list is heavily curated towards my my own interests and TV shows that I personally like, but also TV shows that

are critical to the development and the way British TV is today. So there's some, I think some unusual picks on this list that you may never even heard of, but they're important and they're important to the history of British TV and British culture, but maybe they didn't make it over here. So we cover 50 TV shows there. I'm not gonna sit here and read off the whole list of those 50 TV shows.

but you can expect to see classics on there. mean, Top Gear, Doctor Who, Monty Python, Downton Abbey, The IT Crowd, House of Cards. Most people don't know that House of Cards was originally a British TV show and it's fantastic. Black Adder, Faulty Towers, Inspector Morse, Mr. Bean. So I could go on and on on, but we cover 50 of these important TV shows that are

critical to the development of British TV. There's unknown ones on here you may not even heard of like Grand Designs. Now Grand Designs is actually probably my favorite reality British TV show and it's about, it's a documentary series that's been on for 25 years now where an architect chronicles the building of British people building their great British dream houses and

It's a great show because not only are the houses cool and you get to see them being built, but it's the interaction between the host and the people that they profile on the show and all the disasters that happen as they construct these grand designs. It's great. It's one of the most memeable shows on the internet. You've definitely seen memes about it if you're very online like we are. ⁓ We cover, let's see, what else might you not have heard of? ⁓

The Nazis, a warning from history, which is a fantastic six part BBC series from early in the 2000s that explains how the Nazis took over Nazi Germany and basically co-opted an entire country through propaganda and violence and turn it into what we recognize from movies and TV shows. And it's narrated by, by the guy's name escapes me, but he's the, he plays Dr. Farnan on

The new All Creatures Great and Small. He's a great narrator. Simon West, I think, is his name. Great documentary series. So there's a gamut of documentary series of comedy, of culture, of drama. We cover, let's see, Dad's Army. Dad's Army isn't very big over here, but it's a very important show in the history of British comedy. Same with Only Fools and Horses.

There's also, I kind of cheat a little bit, I don't, there's not 51 shows, but there's a 51st chapter in this section that is all about the David Attenborough nature documentaries produced by the BBC Natural History Unit. Those alone, I mean, because there's too many to have there. I mean, there's 30 or 40 of them at this point. So they're almost worth their whole book alone. So they...

We get kind of an overview chapter on the importance of David Attenborough's natural history units, the development of the BBC, international recognition of the BBC. And then we kind of highlight the famous shows that he's done, like Life on Earth and Frozen and all those wonderful, wonderful natural history documentaries. ⁓ Cannot recommend it more highly. ⁓ David Attenborough is a national British treasure. And yeah, I mean, he's like 90 years old now. He's still narrating documentaries.

⁓ And then after those 51 chapters ⁓ is the appendices and like our The Monarchs book we put out earlier this year on the history of the royal family This is like half the book ⁓ and this is where we deep dive into very specific British TV topics that will help inform your viewing of British TV and I will read these chapters off because ⁓ They're very interesting. So

First up is an honorable mentions section, which is about 70 shows That didn't make the top 50 these are shows that are important that are worth watching that we love That maybe we also haven't seen so we can't personally recommend them ⁓ but it's it's kind of all the stuff that couldn't fit in the top 50 and They get they get honorable mentions list as a kind of a checklist that you can that you can watch ⁓

Tons of shows are in that section. ⁓

And that was the hardest part was whittling down to 50 because if we put all, you know, what, 120 shows in one book, then this book would be a thousand pages. So, and that's impractical. So we need to keep, we had to whittle it down and use editorial guidance to make this a doable book. But lots of these TV shows you've probably heard of, so many you may not have heard of. Like I said, there's a lot of them.

and it gets a great overview to give you more TV to watch if you've seen all these 50 shows in the top 50 because many dedicated Anglophiles have probably already seen them. So next up is an adaptation of an article I wrote for the Friends of Anglotopia Club earlier this year. ⁓ It's a summary of long running British TV shows that can fill all of your free time. Now, I'm not gonna get political, but. ⁓

You know, everyone is dismayed by the state of the world for one reason or another. You don't need to be political about it. And so a lot of us escape into British TV so we can avoid, you know, dealing with the problems of the world or trying to get an escape from bad things that are happening. So we did the work for you and compiled a list of TV shows that you can watch that can completely fill your free time. Now,

Some of them are cheeky, like you can't find all the episodes of these shows because they've been on for 50 years. But we include shows like Doctor Who, which has 884 episodes. That'll keep you busy for a while. The British version of Antiques Roadshow, which has been on longer than the American version, has 866 episodes. And the best part of the British version of Antiques Roadshow is that...

They go from stately home to stately home and you get to see all the antiques in the behind the scenes of the stately homes. It's great. If you like the American Antiques Roadshow, you'll probably love the British version even more. ⁓ you've got, this list also has stuff like Midsummer Murders, which when we wrote this had 140 episodes, probably has more now because they're continually making them. Lots of people keep dying in Midsummer. ⁓

Like I mentioned, Grand Designs has 159 episodes, but actually that number's probably outdated because by the time you listen to this, there will probably be a new season. ⁓ Escape to the Country, which is every Anglophile show that they love to hate. ⁓ It's a fun show. It profiles British people who are moving to the countryside and they should look at properties and get a vibe for the life in the countryside where they want to move, but.

Most anglophiles that I talk to we actually kind of dislike the show because it just makes us want to have that life and we can't have it So it just ends up being frustrating especially when the people don't buy any of the houses they look at nothing more pointless than that ⁓ Then you've got QI which has 308 episodes at last count ⁓ You know Morse Lewis and endeavor if you want to watch inspector Morse its follow-up series Lewis and endeavor That's a hundred and two feature-length episodes that will keep you busy for a while. So

It's a fun chapter. ⁓ It goes on and on and on. So you'll definitely want to get that one. We talk about British TV and Christmas and how the, kind of the entire British TV year revolves around Christmas and ⁓ what's going to air on British TV at Christmastime because every major British TV show that's actively on will have something on at Christmastime and that special will usually be a longer version of the show. ⁓

special plot points. mean most of my adult life has had a Doctor Who special. ⁓ There probably won't be one for a few years now because Doctor Who is on temporary hiatus. But anyway, ⁓ there's a special chapter.

There's this chapter on my favorite type of British TV, and this was also an article that went out to the Friends of Anglotopia, I think this was last year, and it talks about how the British actually invented the fly on the wall documentary reality TV style show. And I talk about why it's my favorite one, because they go behind the scenes of some amazing places in Britain.

talk about my favorite shows where you can get them and watch them. And that leads into the next chapter, which is about my favorite British fly on the wall show of all time, which is Great British Railway Journeys, which is a show that's been on for 15 years now hosted by Michael Portillo, where he basically rides the rails of Britain and goes to interesting places and sees interesting things. The original few series were guided by the...

classic Brad Shaw's railway guide. They're not so much now because he's actually pretty much gone everywhere those guides mention. ⁓ But it's a fantastic show and a great ⁓ periscope into life in Britain right now and over the last 15 years. I love it it's still actively on and I'm currently watching the current series. It just finished airing in the UK. They have I think almost 300 episodes now. Great show. ⁓ Next is probably what will be the most dog-eared section of this book.

which is a complete guide to British TV slang. So I like to say our regular British slang dictionary that we also sell is a guidebook for British TV watchers. This is kind of specific to British TV. Words that were invented on British TV shows, words that you may come across watching TV that you may not know what they mean, ⁓ words that ⁓ insults period drama vocabulary, food and drink terms.

pub culture, weather, money, finance, time, it goes, it's the most fun section of the book. People are gonna love this section. Next, we then we go into the economics of British TV, how it's funded, which is very different from how it's funded in America. And then we also kind of do a deep dive into the history of British television imports to the US. ⁓

about how British TV came to the US, how that became a fusion of both of our cultures, and then how ⁓ American culture is influenced by British TV, but also how British TV is influenced by American culture. So it's really interesting. The next chapter is how British and American television differ. ⁓ Another one is British police ranks for British mystery lovers, understanding what DCI and DC and all those various things mean. ⁓

We do a history of the radio times, which many Americans don't even know what this is, but the radio times was originally published by the BBC and it basically gave the schedule for what was going to be on radio and then later TV. And the entire British TV week revolves around the radio times released every Wednesday. It has the schedule for the next week, interviews with people on British TV. And but it's most famous for the bumper Christmas issue, which comes out two weeks for the two weeks around Christmas. And it has

all the guide that you would need to know and watch for all the British TV Christmas specials. And it's a tradition for a lot of British children growing up is that when they get the bumper Christmas edition, they get the marker out and they circle all the things they're going to watch when they're on Christmas vacation. ⁓ Anyway, we cover that in the Radio Times article. ⁓ We have a, this book would not be complete without a guide to the most romantic British TV. ⁓ Then we have a guide for understanding British titles and honors. So,

We explain the peerage system, lords and ladies, and address how to properly address them and all those wonderful things so you can know. We do a history of the royal family on TV because the history of British TV is actually very inextricably linked with ⁓ the royal family. One of the first national broadcasts that was watched by most of the country was the Queen's Coronation. So, super interesting. ⁓

We talk about why British TV is so excellent at historical drama, even still, compared to American productions, I will die on this hill. ⁓ Why British comedy makes the whole world laugh, what's so special about it, are its characteristics? And then the final appendix chapter is all about the panel show, which is a very uniquely British invention that hasn't really translated over here, but... ⁓

is very popular with Anglophiles if they find the right panel show for their interest. that is the deep dive of the book and what's in it. So if I haven't sold you already, keep listening, because I'm gonna keep talking about British TV. ⁓ I need tea

I made a cup of tea before I did this. This is Cornish tea and my favorite mug.

Very good, and I'm slurping. Mrs. Anglotopia would be furious.

So ⁓ this book has been many years in the making. ⁓ Many of you may recognize the chapters on TV shows from Anglotopia. So for years, probably five or six years, we've been publishing a regular series of articles called Great British Telly, and they're all available on the website. ⁓ Although there's a few that aren't. I'll get into that. And they talk about, and it's,

really a survey of a specific British TV show. gives you key facts about the show that you'd want to know. It gives you a history of the show. It gives you its impact on British culture and world culture. And it tells you where to watch it. And it gives you ideas for further research. they're meant to be a fun way to connect with your favorite show and learn more about it. And so those are what the core of this book is.

I would mention that there's some articles that weren't on the website. Well, it turns out when I commissioned all the articles and then compiled them, I did not have 50 when I thought I did. So as we were publishing the book, had to, or laying out the book, we had to write several new, ⁓ we had to cover several new shows just to fill out the top 50. One of them which was Spaced, Hornblowers in there now, which wasn't originally.

What else? ⁓ and we felt really bad that Doc Martin wasn't in the top 50 when, I love that show and we all love that show because it's so popular on PBS. So Doc Martin got added in at the last minute.

what I'll do is I'll talk more about the mechanics of the book and then I'll read you the introduction because the introduction was a lot of fun to write because I kind of had to distill all my British TV experience into one introduction in my own relationship with British TV. So ⁓ one thing you will notice in the book is there are no pictures. ⁓ That was a practical decision. ⁓ Unfortunately because TV is licensed content.

there was no way we could license images from all these TV shows for print affordably. So that just means that the book is thinner because of that, because if we would have licensed 50 to 100 images, that would have increased the thickness of this book by about 100 pages. So.

Having no images made the book cheaper and to produce and also made it cheaper for you because we didn't need to raise the price to accommodate them. So you don't need the images anyway. It's not like the great houses book where you need the images. It's not like the great London buildings book where if you don't have the images, you don't know what you're looking at. So ⁓ no images there. ⁓ We have released it and I used to get paperback. We released it an e-book, which on Kindle.

But if you go to our store, can buy the DRM free ebook, which means that you can download the ebook and put it on whatever device you want. We don't care. ⁓ I don't like digital rights management, so it's a personal thing there. ⁓ We've also released an audio book read by a lovely British voice. ⁓ It's part of the audible ⁓ Kindle program. It's a, it's a, it's it's a, it's a,

I hate to use the word AI voice. It's not an AI voice. It's actually someone's voice, but it sounds really good. ⁓ If you're a member of Audible, you can get the audiobook through there. Unfortunately, that's the only place you can get the audiobook because it's exclusive to them. ⁓ And then we've also released a limited edition hardcover. Now, I don't have it with me, ⁓ but it's not, I don't have the proof of it yet, but.

When we released Great London Buildings earlier in the summer, we were surprised at how popular the hardcover was. We actually sold more of the hardcover than the paperback. So we had decided that we're going to do hardcovers going forward if it makes practical sense.

So for this one, the hardcover is actually cheaper than the Great London Building ones. For launch week, the hardcover is $49.99 Because there's no pictures, it's much cheaper to produce, so that is your gain. But we're only gonna produce 100 copies of the hardcover. So once we sell 100 copies ourselves and on Amazon, we're gonna remove it for sale. So it's a very kind of limited edition thing. We wanna make it exclusive and make it worth it. So the hardcover, it's a case laminate hardcover.

really it's going to be really beautiful. There's not a dust jacket so just don't expect a dust jacket. ⁓ So that's all the formats. I said, launch week only pricing. I'm going to release this hopefully early next week so you have until Friday to get the launch pricing. Links will be in the show notes below. We prefer you buy the book direct from us from our online store.

We make the most money that way when you buy direct from us. But that may not work for a lot of people, so we try to make it available everywhere you can buy books. So it's available on Amazon where a lot of people buy their books. It should be on bookshop.org any hour now. We signed up for expanded distribution, which means the book will be everywhere eventually. Unfortunately, it's not everywhere today, which is kind of annoying, but had to launch anyway.

So ⁓ if you give your local bookstore the ISBN number or the title with the author, which is Great British Telly, author is Anglotopia, they should be able to order the book for you and you can get it through your local independent bookstore. ⁓ We highly encourage that. We love indie bookstores. great. ⁓ And these books are very important for Anglotopia because they help fund our operations. They help us invest in new content.

They help keep the server going, humming along. You can't see, but I'm actually monitoring the server right now because when we do a product launch, we have to keep an eye on things and make sure nothing crashes. So far, so good. And we just sold another copy, so I'm thrilled about that.

Now, that's enough drawing on about all the details of the book. So I will finish off by reading the introduction, which is an abbreviated personal history of my relationship with British TV. And then we will let you get on with your day. So.

Thirty years ago, I stumbled upon something that would fundamentally change my life. British television. I can't pinpoint the exact moment. Perhaps it was catching a late night rerun of Monty Python's Flying Circus or discovering Doctor Who during a weekend afternoon. But I do know that once I entered the wonderfully eccentric world of British TV, there was no going back. What began as a casual viewing quickly became an obsession, then a passion.

and ultimately the very foundation of my identity as an Anglophile. Over the past three decades, I've logged thousands of hours upon hours watching British television. I've laughed until my sights hurt at the absurdist genius of the IT crowd, been moved to tears by the quiet dignity of all creatures great and small, and found myself utterly captivated by period dramas that transported me to worlds both familiar and foreign, like Brides Had Revisited and Downton Abbey.

both of which are in the top 50, I should add. I've endured shows so brilliantly terrible they became cult classics. Let's be real here, Torchwood kind of fits that bill. And I discovered hidden gems that deserve far wider recognition than they ever received. British television, sorry I need a sip.

British television didn't just entertain me, it educated me. Through the small screen, I learned about British history, culture, humor, class structures, regional dialects, and the peculiar British way of looking at the world. Every show was a cultural anthropology lesson disguised as entertainment. From the working class humor of only fools and horses to the aristocratic intrigue of Downton Abbey, from the brilliant wordplay of Blackadder to the understated

Whit, The Vicar of Dibley, British television painted a rich and complex portrait of a nation that I fell deeply in love with. This book represents the culmination of that 30 year journey. It's my attempt to distill everything I've learned, everything I've loved, and everything I believe makes British television the finest in the world into one comprehensive guide. The heart of this book is the top 50, my carefully curated selection of the essential British TV shows,

every Anglophile should know. But choosing just 50 shows from the thousands that have graced British screens over the decades was perhaps the most difficult task I've undertaken. Followers of Anglotopia will recognize these chapters from their original form as great telly articles. Now they're compiled into one beautiful book.

The criteria I used were both objective and deeply personal. I considered the cultural impact. How did these shows influence British society and global television? I await artistic merit. Was the writing, acting, and production genuinely excellent? I factored in international appeal. Could these shows travel beyond Britain's shores and still resonate with viewers? I thought about representation. Was I covering the full spectrum of British television from comedy to drama, from historical epics to contemporary slices of life?

from high bra literary adaptations to unashamedly populous entertainment. But beyond these measurable qualities, I also trusted my gut. These are shows that moved me, challenged me, made me laugh, made me think, or simply brought me joy. Some selections will surprise you. You may never have heard of some certain programs that I certainly consider absolutely essential. That's part of the beauty of British television. There are hidden treasures scattered throughout its history.

Shows that were perhaps too quirky for mass appeal or too ahead of their time to find their proper audience. Some of these shows are maddeningly difficult to find today, available only through specialty streaming services or dusty DVD collections or sailing the high seas. But you didn't hear that from me. But their obscurity doesn't diminish their importance or quality. This is admittedly a deeply personal and opinionated list. Another angle file might construct an entirely different list of top 50 British TV shows.

and they wouldn't necessarily be wrong. Television appreciation is subjective, influenced by when you first encountered certain shows and what was happening in your life at the time and what particular aspects of British culture most appealed to you. I've tried to be fair and comprehensive, but I cannot pretend to be objective. These are the shows that shaped my love affair with British television and the programs I return to again and again. The series I recommend to friends with evangelical fervor.

painful truth is that I could not include all of my favorite British TV shows on this list. Had I attempted to do so, this book would have stretched to over a thousand pages, and you'd need a forklift to carry it home from the bookstore. The cutting room floor is littered with brilliant programs that deserved inclusion but simply couldn't fit within the constraints of a single volume. Hint, there may be a volume two one day, many years from now. That's why you'll find in the appendices a list of over 60 additional shows that are

Absolutely worth your time. Consider them the honorable mentions that nearly made the cut. But this book is about more than just listing great shows. British television doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's the product of specific historical, cultural, and economic circumstances that shaped how it developed. That's why I've included a comprehensive history section that traces the evolution of British television from its tentative early days to its golden age. Understanding how the BBC came to dominate British broadcasting

how commercial television changed the landscape, and how the unique British approach to television production developed will give you crucial context for appreciating these shows. Sorry, I need more tea.

The appendices section is equally important, taking up almost half the book. It's filled with the kind of cultural background that transforms casual viewing into deeper understanding. Want to understand British slurring so you can follow detective shows more easily? It's here. Curious about the economics of British television and why series are so much shorter than their American counterparts? Covered. Need a guide to British slang so you can understand what everyone's actually saying? I've got you sorted. British slang term right there.

These sections aren't afterthoughts. They're essential tools for truly appreciating British television and all its complexity. This book is also a celebration of British television's incredible diversity. You'll find epic historical dramas alongside intimate domestic comedies, groundbreaking science fiction sharing space with cozy countryside mysteries, the cutting edge satire rubbing shoulders with timeless children's entertainment. This range is part of what makes British television so remarkable.

Its willingness to take creative risk, to trust audiences' intelligence, and to value quality over quantity. As you read through these pages, you'll encounter shows you know and love alongside programs that may be completely new to you. Some entries will validate your existing tastes, while others might challenge your assumptions about what makes for great television. That's exactly what I hope will happen. British television at its best has always been about expanding horizons,

Whether through comedy that makes you see the absurdity in everyday life or dramas that illuminate unfamiliar worlds.

This book is my love letter to an art form that has given me three decades of joy, education, and cultural connection. It's my attempt to share that passion with fellow Anglophiles and to perhaps introduce newcomers to the incredible richness of British television. Whether you're a seasoned viewer looking to discover overlooked gems or a curious beginner wondering where to start your journey, I hope this guide will serve us as both a compass and a companion.

The book is jam-packed at almost 400 pages. I regret that because of the cost of licensing official images for all these TV shows for print and e-book meant that I had to forgo having any images in the book. That just left more room for more wonderful content about British TV that you can shake a stick at. So settle in with a proper cup of tea, queue up your streaming service of choice, and prepare to explore the brilliant, bizarre, and utterly captivating world of British television. After 30 years of viewing,

I can promise you this, you're in for quite a while. The journey begins now. Mind the gap and enjoy the show. So that's the introduction. Hopefully that has sold you on why you should buy this book. Please buy this book. I'll purchase this support in Glotopia. Keep the server lights blinking. Make our archive of 11,000 articles available for everybody for free and without ads. ⁓ Now I thought I would finish.

because we're almost 40 minutes now and I think it's time to start wrapping things up. I thought it would be fun to talk about some of the British TV shows that I am currently watching ⁓ because I am always watching something. So I am going to pull up my Plex and talk about some of the shows that I'm currently watching because you may not have heard of them. More tea. So I run a Plex server. ⁓

which ⁓ for those who don't know what Plex is, I have a little server sitting in my office and on that server it's running software called Plex, which is a private streaming service, basically. It's like my own Netflix or my own Amazon Prime or my own Hulu. And I have an extensive British TV DVD library and so I have meticulously put that library on the server.

so that I can watch my British TV shows anytime and anywhere I so choose. Which is, I am perfectly illegally allowed to do within my rights as an owner of said content. ⁓ my library has hundreds of British TV shows in it and so I'm always watching something new. So, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna pull up the British TV library and talk about what I'm currently watching. ⁓

So I'm currently watching ⁓ quite a few things actually, because I'm always, I like variety and I like to have things going for when I'm in the right mood for it. like I have to be in the right mood for a murder drama, you know? So one is, ⁓ like I said earlier, I'm a huge fan of British fly on the wall documentary shows. So I like to keep one in the rotation because they're great for watching right before you go to bed.

They're very relaxing. You can learn about something and if you fall asleep to it, you don't really feel bad because you don't really miss much of consequence. So the current one that I'm watching is Matt Baker's British Isles. Matt Baker is a prominent British TV host and he's done a show on the British Isles. And so it's kind of an extension of what he used to do on Country File. He goes around the country and interviews interesting people, places and features interesting things.

It's not the most scintillating television. Mrs. Anglotopia would tell you it's rather boring and she usually, if I turn one of these on, she's asleep in minutes. But it's, like I said, it's a relaxing, fun watch. I don't think that, you can't get this one in the USA and I can't say how I got it, so I'll just leave it at that. Next up is a new show that,

people are going to love when it finally airs on PBS Masterpiece. It is called Bookish and it is going to be the British crime drama of the year when it's on PBS. ⁓ And it's almost like an algorithm decided what TV show would suit my interests perfectly. And it's called Bookish. It stars Mark Gatiss.

who you may, if you are familiar with British TV, he is an icon on British TV. He's written the show and developed it and he's starring in it. And the setting is post-World War II Britain, so just after World War II, London is still recovering from World War II and he's a bookshop owner. He's a very smart bookshop owner, a very Sherlockian bookstore owner who knows everything. And in addition to being a bookshop owner,

he helps the local police occasionally solve murders as a hobby. ⁓ The interesting hook, I guess, is that he's actually gay in a time when it's illegal to be gay. And so he's actually married to a woman who knows he's gay, and they are a partnership, but they also love each other. It's a really complicated relationship dynamic. ⁓

There's a new assistant in the store, that's who starts the show. He's just gotten out of prison and he's offered a role in the bookshop and it's a lot of fun so far. ⁓ It actually was such a hit that ⁓ the television network it's on, is you and something in the UK, has actually already commissioned a second series, which has already started filming. I think this show, once it airs on PBS, will take America by storm.

And this we can expect to enjoy this show for years to come. The episodes are, each episode is two parts. so each part, each episode, or it's really confusing. There are six episodes in the first series. Every two episodes is the same story, but it's split in half. So it's really three stories over six episodes. So. ⁓

Bookish, look it up on PBS. Little Britain. ⁓ Little Britain's one of those, I loved that show when it first aired in the early 2000s, and again, it was one of my gateways into British culture and history. ⁓ But I hadn't watched it since it aired and since it stopped airing. ⁓

So Mrs. Anglotopia and I, we need something funny to watch. We've been rewatching episodes of Little Britain. We're in the second series now. ⁓ You actually can't really find this show anywhere. It's really hard to find, which makes owning the DVD even more critical in this day and age because it's a very controversial show. It is so not politically correct in any way, and if you're easily offended, the show will offend you, but it's hilarious. ⁓

I've also been working my way through the Netflix drama One Day. I'm on episode four. ⁓ Moving very slowly through that one. ⁓ I'm enjoying it, but it's not like I haven't felt the urge to sit down and binge the entirety of it. But I also like to savor things. I also mentioned ⁓ Great British Railway Journeys earlier in this episode. I am currently watching that. I'm on the third episode of the latest series.

And you know, I love that show so much. but it only comes around once a year. But this year it was on for 40 episodes or I think it was 40 or 50 episodes. So what I like to do is I have the whole show and then I'm just kind of I watch an episode when I need to pick me up or I want to be transported to Britain and have a lovely train ride. That's when I watch it. So currently bingeing that. ⁓ Also, my weekends, my I call this my Saturday morning show.

I'm watching, it's called The Secret Genius of Modern Life, hosted by Hannah Fry, who's an amazing mathematician, a highly recommend follow her on social media. She does great explainer videos. She's on Instagram and all the networks. ⁓ But it's a fun show that explains the mechanics of very mundane things in modern life, but also the incredible technological achievements that needed to happen to make those things happen.

So to give you an example, the last episode I watched was on the vacuum cleaner. And she talked about the history and development of vacuum cleaner and the various things that needed to happen for the vacuum cleaner to exist. And she even interviewed Dyson, who talked about how he developed his unique solution to the vacuuming problem, which the British call hoovering, by the way, which there was lots of wordplay on that in the episode. The episode before that was...

They talked about the passport and how the passport has changed. And she actually went to the factory in Britain where they make Britain's passports. And it was so super secret like, it's really interesting show. It's streaming somewhere. I don't know offhand. ⁓ Just look it up, The Secret Genius of Modern Life by Hannah Fry. Highly recommend it. ⁓ And then ⁓ one of our favorite also bedtime shows.

is called Canal Boat Diary. hosted by Robbie Cumming. Robbie Cumming, is actually a very prominent YouTuber and social media star. He lives on a canal boat and he just conicals his journeys around Britain's waterways and ⁓ his videos are so relaxing and the TV show kind of has the same vibe. It's just kind of ⁓ a fly on the wall following him as he cruises around Britain by himself on his canal boat.

He goes to some beautiful places, he sees beautiful things, talks about his life on the water. And what's interesting is he actually films the whole show himself using just an iPhone. But you wouldn't think it watching the show. It looks amazing. I mean, they have drone shots and they've got all kinds of fun stuff, but it's a fantastic show. And we watched that right before bed and it's a very, it's the sound of the boat.

of the canal boat motor that really makes it so relaxing because it's always there in the background. It's very rhythmic. ⁓ We watch that and we fall asleep usually very quickly. So it actually takes us usually multiple nights to get through an episode just because it's so relaxing. Highly recommend it. ⁓

Another show that I'm almost done with actually, which if I finish it this weekend I'll be done, is Hidden Treasures of the National Trust, ⁓ which is I know for a fact actually it is streaming on BBC Select, which is one of the BBC's streaming services here in the US. ⁓ It's basically a behind the scenes of various National Trust properties. Now in its third series, I love this show. ⁓

If you love Britain's stately homes and conservation and heritage and history, you will like this show. I love it. But again, I've been watching it for a while because I savor every episode. ⁓ Another one, which is this show is absurd and I have to be in the right moment for this. And I didn't know about the show until last year. ⁓

It's called Good Night Sweetheart. And again, it's a comedy that looks like it's designed to tick all of my interest boxes. ⁓ It's a comedy from the 90s. And it has Nicholas Hurst, is that his name? Nicholas Lindhurst is his name, sorry. And he was the idiot brother on Only Fools and Horses. if you were wondering. And he's actually most recently was in the re-,

with the new reboot of Frasier that was streaming. But anyway, it's called Goodnight Sweetheart and it has the most absurd premise. It's the most 90s premise ever. ⁓ he's just a normal TV repairman in the 90s and one day he discovers that if he walks down on a specific alleyway ⁓ in the east end of London, it will transport him back to the Blitz in London in a very specific street. And so the first couple episodes is like,

him like understanding what actually this is and figuring it out and he becomes like a he becomes a bar fly at the local pub and then he becomes enmeshed with all the end of the lives of the characters in the 1940s while also simultaneously continuing to live his life in the 1990s but in the 1990s he's married, he has job and so like the 1940s become a weird obsession for him which

anybody like me who's obsessed in the 1940s can really sympathize. But then, like, he also wants to go back to the 1940s, because he can continually go down the alleyway and go there, and live his life there as well. Well, eventually he falls in love with the daughter of the guy who runs the pub. And so then this show, like, the premise is bonkers. Like, it's basically a show about bigamy, you know, he's, he f-

has this relationship with this woman in 1940s, but he's still living in the 1990s with his wife who, they're quite unfair to the wife in the 1990s. They portray her as very shrewish and it's softening in the later series, but it's such a bizarre concept for a show. It's a show they wouldn't make now because he's clearly a terrible person stringing these two women along in two different timelines. ⁓ But again,

It's a very British comedy and it's very funny and it's very, it's very acerbic and it really captures 90s British humor perfectly. And it's a very, it's like a time capsule of 90s Britain and also the 1940s. So like, I don't know if I would recommend this show. I'm actually not like, I'm giving it way too much airtime on this episode of the podcast because I've been watching it for a year and I'm only in the fifth episode of the second series.

There were like 40 or 50 episodes. like, I had to be in the right mood for it because the concept is getting tired. Like, I'm getting sick of him stringing both of these women along in two time periods, but there are four or five more series plus a final special. Like, how do they keep this show going? Like, I'm almost watching it just for the train wreck aspect of to see how long they can keep this concept going. ⁓ Anyway, it's called Good Night, Sweetheart. ⁓

Also watching Dover 24-7 Britain's busiest port. fly on the wall documentary series about ⁓ the port in Dover. Great for falling asleep to. It's a fun show. ⁓ Also, I forgot about, like ⁓ as I get further down the list, these are the shows I keep forgetting that I'm actually watching. ⁓ Long Way Home. So it's Ewan McGregor and Charlie Borman doing a motorcycle ride around Europe. It's very good.

⁓ But a lot of people don't like Ewan McGregor anymore for what he did to his wife so hasn't been that popular of a show But I'm enjoying the motorcycle ride his relationship with Charlie Borman has lasted longer and I can hear I Can hear my wife in my ears stop talking about that ⁓ I'm also watching great continental railway journey. So I talked about great British railway journeys. Well this year They also did they brought back great continental railway series ⁓ journeys

where he goes around continental Europe on his railway journeys and there's 20 episodes of that and like, ⁓ it's not British, like they're not going to British destination so I'm like, but they go to, he goes to interesting places and so, this is, this sounds really stupid but I like watching this show while I'm folding the laundry. It's a great show for folding the laundry too. ⁓ I'm always on a re-watch of Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister like,

That's my favorite British comedy of all time. And so whenever I need to pick me up, I just turn on the next episode in the series. So I'm always on a rewatch of Yes, Mr. Classic Show. I'm almost done watching James May and the Dulle Men. Love James May from Top Gear and the Grand Tour. He does a show about dull things and it's actually more interesting that it sounds. I don't know where you can watch that in the US, maybe on Discovery Streaming Service. This one's a fun one.

It's called Boarders and I think it's on Tubi or Freevy or go to Just Watch and put in Boarders. And it's ⁓ about five ⁓ black British kids from a poor part of London who are sent to a boarding school so that the boarding school can be more inclusive. And so it's about their journey ⁓ integrating this boarding school. It's kind of a comedy, but it's also a drama.

It's kind of serious actually, but it's now in its third series and it's very good. Highly recommend it. It's a very interesting look at British class, culture, and race relations. Very good stuff. Also, I love old airplanes and warbirds, so I'm currently watching the second series of Warplane Workshop where they fix old warplanes. Great show. Also watching...

Ghriff Ryhs Jones is one of my favorite British television presenters. He's also a funny comedian ⁓ He did a road trip and in New Zealand. He also did one on Australia and did a show about that as well So I'm watching the New Zealand show right now ⁓ New Zealand is a place. I just love to go and haven't had a chance to go to yet. ⁓ I will one day though There was also some British shows I recently finished that I want to mention before I stopped droning on about this

⁓ Death Valley. That was a lot of fun. ⁓ If you love British cozy mysteries, you're gonna love Death Valley, which I think is on Brit Box. If it's not on Brit Box, it's gotta be on Acorn TV or one or the other. And it's set in Wales, in one of the towns in one of the Welsh valleys, that's why it's called Death Valley. And the hook is that... ⁓

The detective is a young woman who ⁓ is very up and coming and very forthright and she's very fun. And she's hard to take seriously, but she's also what she fights against because she wants to be taken seriously. But the other character is ⁓ played by Timothy Spall and he plays an actor who is famous for playing a TV detective. So it's a very meta.

⁓ cozy murder mystery show where this real detective is using the advice and help of an actor who played a detective on TV to solve real murders. ⁓ It sounds absurd, but it works. ⁓ It was incredibly popular when it aired in Britain earlier this year. Already renewed for a second season, so it'll be back. Highly recommend watching it. ⁓ It's a lot of fun, especially if you like stuff set in Wales. If you like Gavin and Stacey, you'll like this, because a lot of the same actors are in it.

⁓ Yeah, it's a lot of fun. And I think, this is more serious. ⁓ There was a four part documentary series on the 7-7 London bombings. For those not familiar, there was the terrorist attack on July 7th in 2005. This year's the 20th anniversary of it, so they made a documentary about it which,

Documentary was super interesting. ⁓ I know it's a hard subject to be entertained by, there's so much information from the inquiry after and the investigations and everything about that. Because the British, when something bad happens, they do an inquiry and they figure out why it happened and all the things that led to it. So they talk about all the elements in play and the development. it was really interesting. There's actually a book, ⁓

coming out that's a companion to the documentary series that I'm gonna try and get. It's hard topic to watch, but very interesting. And then, I think, there was one last thing.

⁓ okay. Summer in the Scilly Isles. Again, it's one of those ⁓ fly on the wall documentary series about the Scilly Islands, which if you don't know what those are, they're not silly. They're the Scilly Isles. They're off the coast of Cornwall. They're not far off the coast of Cornwall, but they're far enough that they have their own separate culture and history and whatnot. You can only usually get there by ferry. I think there's a helicopter that does it as well. ⁓

And it's a documentary about life on the islands and the people who live there and make their living there. It attracts people from all over Britain because it's very isolated. Again, it was a great show to watch before bed. ⁓ It was very relaxing. Kind of really want to go to the Scilly Isles now. So but that is the extent of what I have been watching over the last month or so. So as you can see, I watch a lot of British TV ⁓ because

Not only is it my job, but it is my passion and vocation, so I watch as much as I can. There's also some American TV that you could argue is British TV, and I'm gonna mention real quick, because I have a few more minutes here. Foundation is an Apple TV Plus show.

If you're not familiar with Isaac Asimov, it's based on the Foundation trilogy of books, loosely based. The Asimov purists actually don't like the show, but the show is on its third season series now. Just released the fourth episode. It's a fantastic show. Sprawling sci-fi epic set. Thousands and thousands of years in the future. But because they film it in Britain and in Europe, everybody has a British accent. So it feels like a very British story to me. It's about

Falling Empires, which is also a British concept. Lee Pace, who's British, plays the Emperor. ⁓ Who else is in it? ⁓ A great British cast, Jared Harris. ⁓ Highly recommend Foundation, it's fantastic. What else have I been watching? ⁓ The Sandman, the new season has finally dropped on Netflix. I had not started it. ⁓

Although I know there's a lot of controversy around even finishing this show because of all the revelations about Neil Gaiman that have come out ⁓ since the first season came out. I will not go into all that here, but I know that a lot of people don't actually want to watch the second season, but it's not really fair to all the people who made the second season because Neil Gaiman wasn't involved in it. So ⁓ you leave it up to you whether you want to watch the Sandman or not. But again.

British setting, British cast, but made my Netflix. Is it British? Kind of, you know. Then ⁓ what else? ⁓ and then finally, another sci-fi show. I love sci-fi. And for many of you who don't know me, sci-fi is actually my second passion after British stuff that drives me. So, a show called Murderbot. It's also on Apple TV. Again, it's American TV show.

But all the characters are British and it was filmed in Britain. So I mean, is it a British show? Kind of. ⁓ So highly recommended. It's set in the future. But really, it's about a self-aware robot who its primary job is to kill things. But he disables his governor chip and he becomes self-aware. And his favorite hobby between killing things is watching really crazy

lachy British, not just British, but TV dramas. And so it's it's fun. The episodes are half an hour. It's low, low, low stakes sci fi TV, but an Apple TV budget, highly recommend it. It's great. And while I'm not watching it right now, the best British show on on Apple TV is Slow Horses. If you're not watching Slow Horses, you need to watch Slow Horses. It's fantastic based on a series of books.

It's got there's four seasons to watch on Apple TV. The fifth is coming out this fall. They've already filmed the sixth season. They've greenlit the seventh. The show's going to be on for a while. And it's fantastic. Gary Oldman is the leader of a bunch of rejects at MI5 and they get involved in spy stuff. It's a fantastic show. I love it. Slow Horses is very popular. Highly recommend checking it out. And I am over an hour now. So even after I edit out all my fumbling.

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